Looking for a new way to advertise your company? Illustrations might be the right way to go. Keep reading if you want to learn how illustrations can boost your brand awareness!


Brand illustrations are an opportunity to highlight uniqueness and modernity. The visualization of values ​​that a cannabis business promotes is a very important process. Identity, logo, corporate identity – all influence the brand image in the eyes of the consumer. For example, one of the popular ways to interact with the target audience through a visual image is the brand character. The brand character can be a great asset to your cannabis company to associate buyers with your brand over time. Read on if you want to learn about the importance of brand illustration for your cannabis-related business and the factors you should consider when drawing up a technical task to create stunning visuals!

How Illustrations Can Boost Your Business Marketing

The illustrations we see on websites, billboards, walls of houses in the form of graffiti and product packaging are an everyday part of life and business. Cannabis companies can also utilize this marketing channel to increase brand awareness and expand their customer base. How illustrations might help your business:

  1. Attract the attention of customers

Illustrations with a “wow effect” are visible everywhere: on sites, signs, stops, in offices, on the side of buildings. Appealing images make potential customers interested in learning about the product or services that you offer. However, from here on out, the rest is up to you: get customers, increase profits, expand your business;

  1. Illustrations distinguish your business from competitors

Ordering an illustration for your website requires investment. However, the payoff of clients that remember your product over a faceless competitor will always be worthwhile.

  1. Your potential client has an association with your brand

If your clients see a catchy pic, they will associate it with your brand and easily recall it when they come to use that product or service again.

  1. Illustrations advertise your cannabis business

Banner ads with images are much more appealing than simple text ads. For online cannabis stores, adverts with catchy product images are significantly more memorable than ads with long, uninteresting text descriptions. Customers spend significantly less time making a purchasing decision when seeing a catchy pic than when reading the long text of your competitors;

  1. Illustrations uniquely identify your brand

In such a competitive market, it is critical to stand out in order to achieve success in business and make turn a profit. One way to stand out is to create your own corporate identity with a proper illustrative design;

The Best Illustration Resources to Use for Your Cannabis Brand

Usually, the first thing that comes to people's minds when searching for the right picture is to find one via Google. Remember, illustrations and photos that you see through searching in Google images or on Pinterest are not free. Each image is subject to copyright and cannot be used for commercial purposes without permission and usually a heavy fee. A warning about this is shown when you open a preview of an image when searching. However, many prefer to believe that everything that can be found on the Internet is free. As a result, it is common to see low-quality advertising layouts with poor illustrations or even watermarks.

Some entrepreneurs love to use popular movies or TV characters for their commercial purposes, without proper consent or license. This may work; however, customers will quickly forget about your company after their purchase. You should bear in mind that understanding the uniqueness of the brand is more important than obtaining short-term monetary benefits.

This is why you should use free or non-free recourses to get the best illustrations for your marketing campaign. However, you should also remember that most pics will still need to be edited and adjusted by a professional designer in order to best suit your cannabis business needs.

  • Stock images

Stock image sites are catalog sites with illustrations and photos on various topics that can be downloaded for commercial use in high quality. There are free and paid sections (and also a paid section with free pictures). The examples of such recourses are Shutterstock, Depositphotos, Adobe Stock, Pixabay, and others.

The cost of a single picture will vary depending on the site used. Many stock sites have wholesale packages for those who require hundreds of illustrations per month or the possibility of one-time purchase for those who only need a few pictures. You should aware that the price will depend on the type of license; there are standard (with restrictions) and extended (unlimited use). Almost every website offers free trial packages of 5-10 pictures. On average, a bitmap without a subscription can cost $ 1-3 minimum, and a vector $ 3-10.


  1. You can find suitable illustrations even with a small budget;
  2. Fast purchase;
  3. No need to negotiate with an illustrator;
  4. A large selection of stock selections and pictures;


  1. It is not always possible to find the perfect illustration;
  2. There are a lot of unaesthetic illustrations that you need to sift through to find something useful;
  3. There is no uniqueness, millions of people have access to these pictures;
  4. If you need a series of pictures, it’s hard to find the combination of several images;
  5. You must be skilled in using programs to properly edit your chosen illustrations or hire someone with the skills to do this for you.
  • Design platforms

There is another type of stock image sites – design platforms. Design platforms make it easier to find a series of illustrations in one style. The quality and uniqueness of the work are also higher in comparison to typical stock sites due to a stricter selection of authors. The images from design platforms generally have more soul and are aesthetically pleasing, however they also come with a higher price tag.

  • Order from Professional Illustrator or studio

Designers specializing in creating illustrations usually have their own unique style of work. The price of the order will vary, depending on the complexity of your ideas and other factors.


  1. The uniqueness of work;
  2. Long-term cooperation will result in pictures of the same style that will be associated with your company;
  3. Working hand in hand with the illustrator can help improve your idea;
  4. Rapidly increases brand awareness.


  1. High price;
  2. More time consuming than simply searching and downloading from stock sites.

What to Consider Before Ordering an Illustration for Your Cannabis Business

It is important to understand that no one can read your mind. The difference in price for drawing one item and for drawing a complex scene with a dozen characters will be different. This is why you need to first think about what exactly it is you need and how these visuals will promote your company. Seabedee says that the following crucial points have helped them to save a lot of money and reduced time to find the best illustration design studio matching their needs:

  • Define what you need

What exactly do you want to order and why; a character for a brand, a series of illustrations for an article, an illustration for packaging, for cups, a logo, layouts for stories or a sticker pack? Describe your idea in detail.

  • Volume

How much work? If there are illustrations for the main page of your website, then how many will you need?

  • Your expectations

How complex should each illustration be? Maybe you should look for references or send an author's work as an example of what you need.

  • How to use

Where exactly will illustrations be used? On one product or several? What circulation will the illustrations be used in? This will factor into the price.

  • Budget

If you have the desired budget, then state it immediately. It will save time negotiating with your illustrator.

  • Deadline

If the work is urgent, then it will cost more. Orders to illustrators are generally scheduled months in advance, so it’s important to propose a timeline and set deadlines.

  • Ownership

This can be difficult; will you require exclusive rights to the work? Will a contract need to be drawn up? Most often, the contract is prepared when working with large budgets and long-term cooperation.

  • Dimensions and layout requirements

Think in advance about the size of the illustration, for example, an A6 postcard size and the print requirements in the printing house. If the product is of an unusual shape, such as packaging, then you should provide a layout requirement.


To sum up, illustrations are vital for the growth of your cannabis business and in assuring your products are memorable. However, if you want stunning visuals to ultimately make your business recognizable, you will need to work with a professional design studio instead of simply downloading low-quality pics from free recourses. Yes, this will require some investment and research in order to get the maximum benefit, however, the outcomes will be top-notch and will always exceed your expectations.

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